The role of marketing has changed dramatically over the last decade. This is primarily due to continually evolving technologies and trends that have been thrust upon modern business. As a result, marketers are being pushed to focus more on data analysis and interpretation, think deeply about the user experience and assume increasing accountability to the bottom line. They must think like entrepreneurs and increase business efficiencies to drive a higher ROI.
The mortgage and real estate industries have a lot to gain by paying special attention to these trends due to the ever-increasing pressure on margins, originations and sales volume.
Marketing responsibilities – how they’ve changed
At one time, marketing departments were focused more on transactions – continuously improving campaign response rates and measuring conversions in terms of dollars generated against dollars spent.
Today’s marketing departments are primarily focused on listening and engagement. They work to “own” the client. Their focus is on the user and customer experience across a variety of platforms and media and making it as smooth and intuitive as possible.
The Future for Marketers in the Mortgage and Real Estate Industries
So, what does the future hold for marketers in the mortgage and real estate industries?
The “martech revolution” has ushered in a digitally-powered age where borrowers, buyers and sellers are increasingly self-directing their own unique journeys to find the right fit for their needs.
This self-directing of the buyer journey is a given outcome of The Information Age. Prospective buyers and users of products and services are much less influenced by your latest marketing campaign. In fact, studies show they barely believe them.
The buyers’ journey is no longer directed by you, rather, it is self-directed as the journey now includes a complex mixture of online research (blogs, social media, etc.), peer reviews, website views, and comparisons, frequently starting on mobile. At the end of the journey, the prospect has developed a sense of trust in one or more companies and ideas and then makes a decision.
To facilitate these journeys, marketers will leverage big data to better understand consumers, predict their behaviors (like the need to buy a house) and communicate with them directly. This means marketers will increasingly collect unstructured data from the online activities of the population and then analyze it to execute targeted digital engagement strategies. For example, someone conducting online searches and sharing content about planning a wedding may well indicate the future purchase of a home…which is useful data for any mortgage lender or real estate broker to act upon.
4 Critical Focus Areas for Mortgage Industry Marketers
Here are 4 critical focus areas for marketers in the mortgage and real estate industries:
1) Focus on UX (user experience) and CX (customer experience): In today’s digital world, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Baby Boomer or Gen X-er, people of all ages have been “trained” to expect more from their interactions with a company than ever before. Therefore, marketers need to think beyond communications and sales support in the traditional sense and pay special attention to the experience both “users” and “customers” have with their company, making it as smooth and intuitive as you can imagine. According to most CMO’s “customer experience” is among their top 5 priorities.
Here’s a simple way of understanding UX and CX: When someone conducts a search for a mortgage company, finds one they like, goes onto the website and are then able to easily navigate to the information they want without any hitches and even submit a short application, that person just had a great “user experience.” How do you know? Because by virtue of filling out the application, they’ve converted to “customer (or client)” status, assuming you can keep them by offering a great customer experience.
As a customer, if they don’t receive a timely response to the application, have to call the company and sit on hold while they get transferred to someone’s voicemail, struggle to find out where their application stands and so on, they are having a poor “customer experience.” Such experiences were commonplace in the old days and were considered part of the process. These days, people have learned through the progression of technology to be much less tolerant. They are products of a new environment where efficiency in online/offline integration rules.
2) Focus on data and technology:Technology allows marketers to gather vast amounts of data by “listening” to the voice of the customer on multiple social media channels. Then they turn that data into actionable intelligence and audience segmentation. This segmentation enables marketers to send very precise messages to help the prospect through their journey.
As you go forward, if you’re marketing to those already in search of a lender, or a company in search of a product or service you offer, then you’re too late. By the time your prospects’ search begins, you need to be top of mind. Therefore, the ability to determine a future need with predictive data factors will allow you to be in the right place at the right time with the right message before a search even begins.
3) Think like a CEO:Today’s CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) plays a much larger role than ever before in the enterprise. They play a role in the business strategy, how the company will achieve its goals, sustain a competitive advantage and ultimately win in the marketplace. The CMO of today also understands that all aspects of the company – systems, technology, the people, the culture – must all work together in concert and is therefore involved in all of these areas.
Since the CMO is much more accountable to the bottom line than ever before, they need to be sure that when a prospect finds their way to the virtual “front door,” that everything runs like a finely tuned engine. There can’t be any hitches or off-brand experiences.
4) Focus on influence rather than persuasion: Successful marketers engage in social listening so that they can understand the path customers take and be there throughout the journey with great, informative content and their brand stories – not just product marketing. Product marketing is commonplace. No matter what you’re looking for, there are many companies offering the same or similar products and services and consumers are armed to the teeth with that type of information. They are looking for a very rare commodity – a brand that has a compelling story that will connect with and influence them in a positive way with helpful information.
Therefore, not all elements of a marketing strategy can be preset any longer in a static fashion. They need to become consumer-centric and be set into motion by search history, behaviors and demographics. They need to speak to the consumer in a very targeted way to help them as they move down the path.
Now that you understand the most critical areas of focus for marketers, the takeaways are quite simple. To be successful you must be adept at leveraging digital channels, marketing automation and creating an unforgettable experience. Also, data analysis skills have become more important than ever as delivering measurable results and growth is the bottom line.
